Daisy Hernandez

Daisy Hernandez is a journalist, memoirist, and nonfiction writer whose work examines family, identity, health, race, and gender. Raised in a Colombian-Cuban family in New Jersey, she trained in journalism and later earned an MFA in creative writing. Hernandez co-edited Colonize This! with Bushra Rehman, bringing together essays by young women of color on feminism, culture, sexuality, work, and community. Seal Press first published the anthology in 2002, and the editors prepared an expanded edition in 2019 that introduced the collection to a new generation of students and readers. Her own books include the memoir A Cup of Water Under My Bed and The Kissing Bug, a blend of family history, medical investigation, and reporting on Chagas disease. The latter received the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award and recognition from the National Book Foundation’s Science and Literature program. Hernandez has also contributed journalism to national publications and teaches creative writing, carrying her interest in rigorous personal narrative into both classrooms and public nonfiction.